Sumter's Lee Brice Had Performed at Las Vegas Country Festival

Lee Brice performed Friday at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.

Author:
Mike Ellis, IndependentMail.com , wltx

Published:
7:01 PM EDT October 2, 2017

Lee Brice performed Friday at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.

When he heard about the mass shooting there, he was in Los Angeles on his tour bus. He sent a text message to Jake Owen, a friend and singer who was on stage when gunfire started.

Owen sent back messages that described a scary scene: people being shot backstage as well as in the crowd, Brice said.

He said it will make him rededicate himself to instilling values of God into his three children.

Brice, a country singer from Sumter who played on the Clemson University football team, said his thoughts were with the fans as well as with the crews for Owen and Jason Aldean — the singers who were on stage when the shooting started Sunday night.

Brice said country music fans won't be scared from future shows.

"They're good people who want to have a good time, they work hard and are not going to let hate win," he said. "It's gonna be alright, God has a plan."

Brice said his own security has been increased in the last year. The primary concerns have been people running up on stage or confrontations during meet-and-greets.

It's not clear how the shooting will change his future shows, but Brice said he doesn't think it will keep the fans away.

"We're so close together as a family, we're not going to let one person come in and change that, as bad as it is," Brice said.